contemporary japan history, politics, and social change since the 1980s

CONTEMPORARY JAPAN A HISTORY OF THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD General Editor: Keith Robbins This series offers an historical perspective on the development of the contemporary world Each of the books examines a particular region or a global theme as it has evolved in the recent past The focus is primarily on the period since the 1980s but authors provide deeper context wherever necessary While all the volumes offer an historical framework for analysis, the books are written for an interdisciplinary audience and assume no prior knowledge on the part of readers Published Contemporary Japan Jeff Kingston In Preparation Contemporary America Michael Heale Contemporary Latin America Robert H Holden & Rina Villars Contemporary South Asia David Hall Matthews Contemporary Africa Tom Lodge Contemporary China Yongnian Zheng CONTEMPORARY JAPAN HISTORY, POLITICS, AND SOCIAL CHANGE SINCE THE 1980S JEFF KINGSTON A John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., Publication This edition first published 2011 © 2011 Jeff Kingston Blackwell Publishing was acquired by John Wiley & Sons in February 2007 Blackwell’s publishing program has been merged with Wiley’s global Scientific, Technical, and Medical business to form Wiley-Blackwell Registered Office John Wiley & Sons Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, United Kingdom Editorial Offices 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5020, USA 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford, OX4 2DQ, UK The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK For details of our global editorial offices, for customer services, and for information about how to apply for permission to reuse the copyright material in this book please see our website at www.wiley.com/wiley-blackwell The right of Jeff Kingston to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks All brand names and product names used in this book are trade names, service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners The publisher is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered It is sold on the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services If professional advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kingston, Jeff, 1957– Contemporary Japan : history, politics and social change since the 1980s / Jeffrey Kingston p cm – (History of the contemporary world) Includes bibliographical references and index ISBN 978-1-4051-9194-4 (hardcover : alk paper) – ISBN 978-1-4051-9193-7 (pbk : alk paper) Japan–History–Heisei period, 1989– Japan–Social conditions–1989– Japan–Economic conditions–1989– I Title DS891.K538 2011 952.04–dc22 2010009774 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Set in 10.5/13 pt Minion by Toppan Best-set Premedia Limited Printed in Malaysia 2011 Contents Map Series Editor’s Preface Acknowledgments Part I Introduction Transformations After World War II The Lost Decade Part II Risk and Consequences Defusing the Demographic Time Bomb Families at Risk Jobs at Risk Part III Politics and Consequences Contemporary Politics Security and the Peace Constitution Environmental Issues Immigration 10 War Memory and Responsibility Part IV Institutions at Risk 11 The Imperial Family 12 Yakuza vii viii x 23 39 41 66 84 101 103 124 145 166 185 207 209 227 vi Contents Part V Postscript 13 Prospects Glossary Notes Further Reading Index 253 255 261 269 283 291 200 400 km 200 RUS 400 mi La Perouse Strait Hokkaido CHINA Sapporo Tsugarukaikyo NORTH KOREA Sea of Japan Akita Dokdo/ Takeshima* SOUTH KOREA Yellow Sea TOKYO S BONIN ISLANDS OTO D NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN -SH I A PO RYU U KY SL Philippine Sea AM Kyushu Osumikaikyo N Kitakyushu Nagasaki Fukuoka Shikoku East China Sea Honshu Kobe Nagoya Yokohama Osaka Hiroshima a Kore Stralt SENKAKUSHOTO Okinawa Sendai N DAITOSHOTO VOLCANO ISLANDS Map of Japan *These are the Korean and Japanese names for this disputed territory Series Editor’s Preface The contemporary world frequently presents a baffling spectacle: “new world orders” come and go; “clashes of civilizations” seem imminent if not actual; “peace dividends” appear easily to vanish into thin air; terrorism and “wars on terror” occupy the headlines “Mature” states live alongside “failed” states in mutual apprehension The “rules” of the international game, in these circumstances, are difficult to discern What “international law” is, or is not, remains enduringly problematic Certainly it is a world in which there are still frontiers, borders, and boundaries, but both metaphorically and in reality they are difficult to patrol and maintain “Asylum” occupies the headlines as populations shift across continents, driven by fear Other migrants simply seek a better standard of living The organs of the “international community,” though frequently invoked, look inadequate to deal with the myriad problems confronting the world Climate change, however induced, is not susceptible to national control Famine seems endemic in certain countries Population pressures threaten finite resources It is in this context that globalization, however understood, is both demonized and lauded Such a list of contemporary problems could be amplified in detail and almost indefinitely extended It is a complex world, ripe for investigation in this ambitious new series of books “Contemporary,” of course, is always difficult to define The focus in this series is on the evolution of the world since the 1980s As time passes, and as the volumes appear, it no longer seems sensible to equate “the world since 1945” with “contemporary history.” The legacy of the “Cold War” lingers on but it is emphatically “in the background.” The fuzziness about “the 1980s” is deliberate No single year ever carries the same significance across the globe Authors are therefore establishing their own precise starting points, within the overall “contemporary” framework Index immigration 22, 42, 165, 166–84, 259 perceived risks of 19 see also foreigners Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act (2004) 167, 183 Imperial Armed Forces civilians pressured to commit group suicide by 188 comfort women system established at behest of 201 countries victimized by 211 destruction inflicted over wide areas of China 12 extensive war crimes 218 terrorism invoked to justify escalating aggression in China 188 torments inflicted by 185 widespread atrocities 203 Imperial Household Law (1947) 222, 223 IMTFE (International Military Tribunal for the Far East 1946–8) 6, 7, 110, 188, 190, 218 Income Doubling Plan 110 Inagawa-kai 230, 236, 243 income inequality 35 India 148, 257 Indian Ocean 133 Indochina 200 Indonesia 11, 13, 167, 176–7, 200 inefficiency 16, 17 information disclosure 32, 33, 37, 119 inside information 244, 248–9 institutionalization 81, 111 intellectual property rights 141 interest rates higher spreads on jusen loans 238 ratcheting up 15 tightened 26 zero 26 international commerce 13, 14 International Criminal Court 219 international financial institutions 13 international markets 244–5 International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor 154 Internet 86, 141 pornography 244 intimidation 227, 230, 231, 234, 244, 247, 251 Iranians 167, 179 Iraq 125, 130, 133, 134 Iron Triangle 3, 17, 105, 108, 112, 240 Ise 212 Ishihara, Shintaro 137–8, 170, 214 Ishii, Susumu 236 Italy 10, 44, 146, 231, 237 Itami, Juzo 235 IWC (International Whaling Commission) 156, 157, 158, 160, 161, 162 Japan Airlines 18 Japan Federation of Bar Associations 72 Japan International Corporation of Welfare Services 176 Japan Overseas Volunteer Corps 43 Japan Pension Services 56 Japan Tobacco 48 Japanese Constitution (1947) 7, 113, 186, 211, 212, 213 Articles (9/19/20/21) 5, 10, 19, 110, 114, 121, 125–8, 130–3, 143, 191, 214, 219 violated 128, 193, 214 Japanese imperialism 189, 191 spiritual props of 215 Japanese Nursing Association 178 JCO nuclear fuel company 151 JCP (Japan Communist Party) 114–15, 192 jiage operations 231, 232, 240, 250 299 300 Index jiko sekinin 21, 66, 88, 91 criticizing the consequences of 17 repudiated 256 sense of mutual support that implicitly rejects 104 Jinja Honcho 191 JITCO (Japan International Training Cooperation Organization) 175–6 job losses 16 job market see labor market job security 19, 24, 36, 86, 97 declining 55, 83 ebbing of 85 fading 18, 22, 255 lacking 95 limited 84 low 27, 46, 71, 72 strengthened tenuous 45 jobs at risk 84–100 Johnson, Chalmers 109 Johnson, Lyndon 258 JSP (Japan Socialist Party) 9, 10, 108, 113 end as a political force 114 left-wing political culture in 109 Juki Net 180 jusen 237–8 Justice Ministry 59 Immigration Bureau 168, 180 juvenile delinquency 27, 59, 173, 230 kakusa shakai 28, 34, 84, 98 kamikaze 80, 188 Kanemaru, Shin 236 Kanikosen 85 Kansai 243 Kanto 243 Kashiwazaki accident (2007) 152–3, 164 Kato, Tomohiro 86 Katz, Richard 15, 16 Kazokukai 136, 137, 138 Keidanren 111, 149, 183, 194 keiretsu 13, 14 Keizai Doyukai 194 kickbacks 112 kidnapping see abductions Kiko, Princess 223 Kim Dae Jung 217 Kim Jong-il 135, 142 Kimigayo 114–15, 213, 214, 215 kisha club system 28 Kishi, Nobusuke 4, 109–10, 111, 131, 236–7 Kobe 243 Kobe earthquake (1995) 28–9, 89, 234 Koga, Makoto 194 Koizumi, Junichiro 23, 34, 35, 57, 88, 92, 104, 105, 122, 136, 141 charismatic appeal 117 controversial leadership 118 dismantling of 1955 system 111 foreign workers issue 183 legislation allowing female succession 223 neo-liberal market-oriented reforms 18–19 public works spending scaled back 163 resolute policies 91 security cooperation with US by sending troops to Iraq 133 self-responsibility popularized under 66 threat to destroy LDP 120, 121 Yasukuni visits 118–19, 140, 190, 191–3, 194–5, 202, 203 Kono, Taro 182 Kono Statement (Yohei Kono) 198, 199, 201, 202, 204, 219 Koo, Richard 26 Index Korean Council (advocacy group) 200–1 Korean War (1950–3) 11, 13, 129, 135 Korea/Korean Peninsula 6, 118, 198, 212, 245 comfort women 199 crime syndicates 244 immigrants in Japan 167 Japanese colonialism (1910–45) 11, 19, 135, 137, 201, 210, 211, 216 see also ethnic Koreans; North Korea; South Korea kozo oshoku 108 Kurume 245, 246, 247 Kuwait 125, 130 Kyodo Senpaku 157 Kyoto Protocol (1997) 145, 146 Kyushu 155, 245 labor market 107, 93 bleak/grim/tough 72, 85, 115 deregulation of 35, 84, 85, 107, 118 dual 97, 98 incremental reforms 104 less-educated youth fare more poorly in 94 mothers who want to re-enter 46 periphery of 85, 91, 95 risk-oriented 85 structural changes in 84, 98 unprecedented upheaval in 94 younger workers shunned to margins of 27 Labour Party (UK) 117 land prices 15, 24 crash in 232 downward spiral in 238 land reform 8, 9, 13 language barriers 178 Laos 200 Latin American culture 172 law enforcement 250 aggressive 244, 249 effective 249 hostile 228 successful 251 Law on Prevention of Spouse Violence and Protection of Victims 75–6 layoffs 27, 95, 171 LDP (Liberal Democratic Party) 3, 31, 36, 71, 72, 103, 110, 118, 123, 133, 137, 143, 144, 201, 203, 219, 258 agenda favored by big business and bureaucracy CIA involved with creation of 109 clear distinction between JSP and 10 cuts in government assistance 73 documentary censored because of pressure from senior politicians 218 environmental issues 145, 146, 147, 148, 165 factions and structural corruption 111–13, 117 flag-and-anthem bill 213 generous campaign funding immigration 182 Koizumi’s threat to destroy 120, 121 long-standing policy of denial reversed 128 membership numbers 114 middle-class loyal supporters ousted/repudiated 18, 19, 21, 104, 105, 106–8, 116, 122, 256 pragmatism 10 public debt 257 scandal 236 signature policy 104 sweeping reform initiatives 17 Yasukuni Shrine and 191, 192, 194 301 302 Index left-wing political groups 9, 109, 137 demise of 113–14 radical 247 vibrant opposition 131 yakuza goons unleashed on demonstrators 236 Lehman Brothers 24–5, 251 Liberals 108 life expectancy 48 lifestyles 50, 73 diseases related to 49, 58 dissolute 249 fast food, convenience store 48 health problems related to 248 healthy 47 lavish, jet-setter 225 sedentary 49 lifetime employment 17, 36, 84, 89, 90, 95, 96, 99, 115 decline of 94 liquidity trap 26 liver transplants 248, 249 living standards 107, 110, 112, 133 loan sharking 227, 240, 248 Lockheed Corporation 113 longevity 47 Los Angeles 249 Lost Decade (1990s) 3, 10, 15, 16, 20, 21, 23–38, 87, 107, 217, 227, 255 declining opportunities and lost gains for women 95 enormous problems stemming from the 17 one of the dire legacies of 94 policy blunder credited with prolonging 79 prolonged recession during 94 yakuza unfairly blamed for causing 239 “lost generation” 86, 99, 115 LTC (Long-Term-Care) Insurance System 50, 51, 53–4, 64 MacArthur, Gen Douglas Maebashi 246, 247 mafia 227, 229–30, 242, 249 Malaysia 167, 200 male primogeniture 224 Manchuria 4, 110 manga 85, 86, 245 Marcos, Ferdinand 13 marital rape 75 market liberalization 34 market share 16, 58 martial arts Marubeni 113 Marx, Karl 85 Masako, Crown Princess 211, 221–5 mass media 18, 46, 214 spread of maternity leave 96 McDonald’s 48 medical care costs of 41, 43, 49–50, 63 elderly 41, 42, 43, 56, 58, 62 insurance systems 84, 97 shortage of doctors 52, 63 solvency of systems 92, 98 Meiji era (1868–1912) 210, 215 mental depression 79–80, 81, 223, 224 mercury poisoning 155, 156, 234 mercy killings 59 metabo (metabolic syndrome) 49 METI (Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry) 151 MHLW (Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare) 87, 176 Michiko, Empress of Japan 211 middle class 9, 67, 78, 84, 92, 94 expanding myth of 36, 99 percentage seen as members of 34 support for LDP 109 Middle East 130, 149 migration Index see also immigration Mihama nuclear plant 152 Mihashi, Kaori 74 militarism 4, 7, 9, 132 persistent reminders of the risks of 126 potent symbol of 190 spiritual props of 215 symbolized 185 unrepentant 186 Minamata disease 155–6, 164, 234 Minbo No Onna (1992 film) 235 see also extortion Mindan 169 misallocation of resources 16, 51 misery index 23 Mito District Court 151 Mitsubishi Mitsui Miyazaki, Hayao 163 Miyazaki, Manabu 239–40, 244 mobsters 6, 28, 120, 217, 231 see also yakuza monetary policies 15, 25, 27 money laundering 110, 248–9 monitoring 180 moral education 215 moral hazard 48 Morgan Stanley Japan 230 Mori, Yoshiro 118, 236 motorcycle gangs 230 MSDF (Maritime Self-Defense Force) 129, 130 Murayama, Tomiichi 113 murders 59, 74, 76 murders high-profile, by Chinese 175 9/11 attacks 118, 124, 130, 131, 180, 188 Nagano Olympics (1998) 167 Nagasaki 212, 229 Nagoya 238 Nakagawa, Gen Hidenao 182 Nakagawa, Shoichi 219 Nakasone, Yasuhiro 113, 144, 175, 182, 187, 191, 193 Nanking/Nanjing slaughter (1937– 8) 187, 188, 189, 195, 203 Naruhito, Crown Prince 211, 221, 224, 225 national anthem and flag 114–15, 213–16 National Council for Gender Equality 75 national identity 18, 132, 159, 166, 186, 199, 210 major challenge to policy-makers and 84 risks to 19–20 rooted in a sense of homogeneity 20 touchstone of 203 under siege 158 National Institute of Population and Social Security Research 41–2 National Police Agency 230 National Police Reserve 129 national security 19, 123, 170 undermined 139 nationalism 170, 193, 195, 197, 201, 211, 214 costly and self-defeating impulses 119 dangerous 192 emphatic 217 invoking atavistic symbols of 194 militant 190 narrow 188, 203 overt displays taboo recrudescent 187 renascent 202 resurgent 187, 194 rising, implications of 196 ultra-conservative 191 unhealthy 187 virulent 186 303 304 Index nationalism (cont’d) whaling a touchstone of 158 see also ultra-nationalists nationality 168, 170 NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) 129, 130, 133 natural disasters 28, 29, 163, 226, 235 see also earthquakes naturalization 168, 169, 170, 178 Nature (scientific journal) 138 naval capabilities 129 Ne Win 13 negative equity 27 Netherlands 200 New Komeito 192 NGOs (nongovernmental organizations) 78, 123, 220, 258 NHK (Japan National Broadcasting) 136, 137, 153, 178, 218, 219–21, 224 Nihon Izokukai (War Bereaved Veterans Family Association) 191, 194 Niigata 152 Niigata Mountain Association 112 Nikkei (business newspaper) 159 nikkeijin 167, 170–4, 182, 183 see also Brazilians Nikkeiren 111 Nikko 248 NIMBY (not-in-my-back-yard) activism 245 Nippon Keidanren 149, 183 Nippon Research Center 159 Nishimura, Mutsuyoshi 165 Nixon, Richard 12 Nomura 248 non-regular workers 35–6, 45, 47, 57, 84, 88, 90, 93, 94, 98, 100 employment protection for 97, 99 incentives for employers to hire 97 income disparities between regular and 92 marginalization of 65 rising number of 97 underworld bosses relying increasingly on 229 women 46, 68, 71, 72, 95 non-tariff barriers 14 nopan shabushabu 31 North Korea 168, 189, 200 abduction of Japanese nationals 135–40, 141–2, 169 Koizumi summits/normalization initiative 121, 135, 137, 138, 143 missile tests/nuclear weapons 119, 124, 130, 131, 135–6, 139, 140, 142, 169 rising threats emanating from 197 security risks posed by 19 souring tense relations between Japan and 194 NPOs (non-profit organizations) 31, 32, 33, 37, 47, 76 homeless 87, 88, 89 public support for 29 nuclear accidents 149, 164 see also Kashiwazaki; Mihama; Tokaimura nuclear energy 149–55 nuclear weapons 124, 125, 127, 128, 130, 131, 135–6, 139, 140, 142, 144, 154, 169 pledges to promote disarmament 126 nurses 50, 53–4, 178 shortage of 52, 55, 176, 177 Obama, Barack 123, 140–1, 142 Obuchi, Keizo 35, 92, 104, 119 ODA (official development assistance) 12–13, 125, 162 Oe, Kenzaburo 222 Index OECD countries 34–5, 42, 44, 47–8, 49, 52, 59, 63, 73, 87, 93–4, 96, 97, 146 oil imports 149 prices 26 shocks (1970s) 3, 15, 16, 92, 259 Okazaki, Hisahiko 189 Okinawa 11, 127, 143, 188, 212 on-the-job training 89, 94 one-party democracy (1955 system) 3, 9, 109 prolonged/perpetuated 107, 108, 110 OPEC (Organization of PetroleumExporting Countries) 15 opportunity costs 64 Organization of Reprimanded Teachers 214 Osaka 75, 236 Osaka High Court 117, 193 outsourcing 72, 125 yakuza 229, 231, 245, 249 overweight people 49 Ozawa, Ichiro 125–6, 128, 130, 133, 134 Ozu, Yasujiro 67 Pacific war (1941–5) 5, 186 pacifism 129, 133, 217 Constitution embraces 132 unilateral 10, 126 Pakistan 134, 142 Pal, Radhabinod 190 pan-pan girls Papua New Guinea 200 part-time workers 95, 96, 121 passive smoking 49 passports 169 seizure of 176 paternalistic employment 17, 18, 84, 85, 89, 115 limits of 23 patriarchy 64, 67 women and 3, 68, 73 patriotism 132 instilling 215, 216 patronage 9, 112 Pearl Harbor 189, 212 pensions 41, 43, 50, 56–9, 69, 70, 166 fewer workers to fund 42 inadequate 42, 60, 64, 65 national system 97 solvency of 92, 98, 168 troubled insurance systems 84 Peruvians 171 petty crimes 59 pharmaceuticals 58 Philippines 11, 13, 167, 176, 177, 200 photovoltaic windows 148 Plaza Accords (1985) 14, 15 political power 247 breaking the monopoly over elderly people 42 spreading more widely 6, politics 42, 103–23 budget 161 ignominious exits from 132 succession 221–5 porkbarrel projects 9, 104, 107, 112, 116, 120, 163 poverty 17, 35, 82, 98, 256 absolute 34 atypical families especially prone to 67 breaking the self-perpetuating cycle of 99 denial of 78 elderly people 42, 59–60 persistence of 78 relative 84 rural households lifted out of single mothers 70–4, 78 young people given a one-way ticket into 91 305 306 Index poverty alleviation 69, 72 poverty line 19 precariat (precarious proletariat) 84, 98, 258 prejudice 175 anti-Chinese 175 racial prescription medicine 58 price-fixing 239 prisoners of war 188 systematic abuse of 203 Prius hybrid cars 145, 149 privatization 17, 19, 34, 72, 107, 111, 118 daycare operations 47 neo-liberal structural reforms promoting 104 piecemeal 24 revitalizing impact of Koizumi’s emphasis on 91 procurements 11, 13 productivity 15, 27 boosting 90 gains at risk 42 gains stifled in 16 lagging 91 low growth in 17 market forces as means of promoting 118 raising 36 property foreclosure 233, 238 proportional representation 116 prostitution 6, 227, 229, 235, 240, 244, 245, 248 recession has slashed revenues from 248 protection rackets 230, 232, 246, 247, 249 PSC (Public Safety Commission) 241, 246 psychiatric disorders 81 psychological abuse 75 public policy 50 public works 9, 26, 122, 162, 231 bid-rigging 229 rural regions dependent on 123 shifting spending to social welfare programs 21, 33, 106–7, 108, 257 spending slashed/scaled back 111, 120, 163 yakuza involvement in 229 puppets 225 purchasing power parity 146 PX (Post Exchange) stores 5, Pyongyang 121, 136, 137 Pyongyang Declaration (2002) 135 quality of life 56, 65 quantitative easing 26 Rachi Giin Renmei 136 rachi mondai 136 racketeering law 237 radiation 151 rape 219 RCC (Resolution and Collection Corporation) 238–9 Reagan, Ronald 91 real-estate projects 231 recession 33, 35, 55, 92, 103, 209, 250, 251 balance sheet 26 easing the consequences of 21 economy jolted out of 11 Heisei 90, 110, 114, 248 prolonged 10, 16, 26, 69, 94, 110, 114, 173, 228, 240, 248 yakuza 227, 237–40 recession management 232–3 reconciliation 134, 185, 186, 195, 201 emperor committed to 217, 225 failure to promote 188, 197 flawed effort towards 200 initiatives promoting 210 Index limited success in promoting 200 obstacles to 203 ongoing efforts to promote 191 preventing 202, 203, 204 words and gestures that undermine 187 see also regional reconciliation Recruit scandal 113 Red Queen Syndrome 242–3 refugees 124 regional reconciliation 22, 197, 205 belated 209 gestures aimed at facilitating 225 religious fanatics 29–30 renewable energy 146–8, 149, 164 repatriation 137 residence registration 180 resident status 170, 171 fast track to 183 restraining orders 75 retirement 19, 41, 42, 56, 57, 59, 98, 112 average mandatory age 43 gradually extending the age of 48 “retired husband syndrome” 70 saving for 42 sinecures for bureaucrats after 31, 106 see also early retirement retribution 197, 247 fears of 5, 76 RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) Act (US 1970) 237, 242 right-wing groups 136–7, 138, 218, 236 fake 234 opposed to acknowledging wartime crimes 219 powerful lobbies 191 rinban 26 risk aversion 17, 18, 59, 183 risk management 258 risk minimization 17, 38, 104 Rokkasho nuclear waste storage 154–5, 164 Roosevelt, Franklin D 189 roro kaigo 82 rosu gene 86 rule of law 32, 33, 37 Russia 231, 237, 244 lucrative source of prostitutes 245 see also Six-Party Talks; Soviet Union Rwanda 124, 218 Saburo, Ienaga 193 Sagawa Kyubin scandal 113, 236 salarymen 109, 209 Samuels, Richard 108–9 samurai work culture 96 San Francisco Peace Treaty (1951) 11, 127, 188 Sankei (newspaper) 189 Sato, Eisaku 127 scandals 107, 113, 152, 222, 255 censorship 219, 220 major 113 royal 222 working with politicians carries the risk of 236 SCAP (Supreme Commander Allied Powers) 4, 5, 6, 7, SDF (Self-Defense Forces) 29, 113, 126, 129, 132 limits placed on 130 overseas deployments of 131 second-hand car trade 245 seiken kotai 104, 123 Sendai 193 senile dementia 61 seniority wage system 24, 30, 42, 89, 90, 95, 96 307 308 Index Seto Inland Sea 163 sex 27 coerced 75, 185, 201 military slavery 218, 219 sexual harassment 176 Shanghai 141 Shii, Kazuo 114 shinkansen 112 Shinoda, Kenichi 247 Shinto 185, 191, 192, 212, 213 shoplifting 59, 60 shotgun marriages 69 Showa era (1926–89) 28, 131, 177, 186, 192, 194, 209–12 belated attempt to hold emperor accountable 217–18 exoneration of emperor 196 SIA (Social Insurance Agency) 56 Sierra Leone 124 Singapore 200 single-mother households 67, 70–4, 77, 78 Six-Party Talks (Korea, US, China, Russia, Japan) 136–7, 139, 142 slave laborers 187, 203 small- and medium-size firms 90, 92 bankruptcy 79 SMDs (single-member districts) 116, 117 social capital 4, 85, 99 social cohesion 4, 41, 86, 103 frayed 257 maintaining 34, 107 myths and beliefs that sustained 255 risk to 20, 27, 36, 57, 98 shoring up 258 undermining 57, 84 Social Democratic Party 192 social integration 171, 174, 179, 182 social policy 42 pressures building to overhaul 67 reforms affecting the family 77, 78 significant ramifications for 66 social safety net 67, 91, 104, 122 expanding 100, 257, 258, 259 gaps in 88 inadequate 66, 115, 118 limitations of 84 more people will rely on 97 pressure on 98 reducing 121 shrinking 111 strengthening of 257 trimming 23 social security 49, 50 contributions to benefits 57 social services 123 added pressure on 42 costs of 91 social welfare 19, 91 elderly, costs of 41 heavily dependent on the family 66 reassessed 85 reforms 36 spending on 17, 21, 33, 106–7, 108, 121, 122, 257 Society for the Creation of New History Textbooks 195 sogo shoku system 96 sokaiya 233–4, 240 solar panels 147, 148, 164 solidarity 85 myth of 34 soup kitchens 87, 89, 234 South America 167 South Korea 168, 169, 186, 203, 216–17 children as percentage of population 44 children in population 44 compensation to 11–12, 200 diplomatic leverage 195 environmental issues 146 Index increased competition from 15–16 Japan’s present relations with 187, 194 normalization of relations with 11–12 powerful civil society organizations 204 reparations (1965) 135 South Pacific 157 Southeast Asia 211, 244 Southern Ocean 157, 161 Soviet Union 8, 11, 127, 137, 197 collapse of 113, 114 Spain 16, 146, 167, 170–1 spy satellites 129 stigma arrest 60 bankruptcy 81 child abuse 76 divorce 67, 68, 69 identity 173 mental illness 81 suicide 79, 80 sting operations 242 stock manipulation 248 stock market collapse (1987) 14–15, 24 subprime loan crisis (2008) 18, 86 Suharto 13 suicide 23, 28, 67, 79–82, 87, 214 fathers who commit 27 group 188 unemployment and 98 Sukuukai 136 Sumitomo Sumitomo Bank 238 Sumiyoshi-kai 230, 243 Sun Goddess 212, 213 sunset industries 16 Supreme Court 32, 33, 170, 220 Grand Bench 169 surplus labor Suruga Corporation 250 surveillance 180, 242 sushi 160 Sweden 146 taboo topics 4, 28, 68, 77, 80, 92, 131 Koizumi’s trampling of 118 media transforming into news features 82 provoking debate over 144 war-related 126 Taepodong missiles 136 Taisho era (1912–26) 210 Taiwan 6, 12, 15–16 Takemae, Eiji 190 Takenaka, Heizo 118 Takeo, Miki 191 Takeshita, Noboru 113, 236 Tamogami, Gen Toshio 126, 144 Tanaka, Kakuei 12, 112–13 Taniguchi, Tomohiko 161 tax burdens 42 tax revenues 48–9 bolstering local finances by allocating 123 declining 42 teenage mothers 71 TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company) 153 terrorism 28, 30, 138, 157 invoked to justify escalating aggression in China 188 state sponsors of 139 see also 9/11 attacks; “war on terror” Thailand 167 Thatcher, Margaret 91, 118 theft 59 therapeutic treatment 58 Three Non-Nuclear Principles 144 repeated US violations of 127 309 310 Index TMG (Tokyo Metropolitan Government) 169–70 tobacco sales 48–9 Tojo, Gen Hideki Tokai Loop Highway 33 Tokaimura accident (1999) 150–1 Tokyo 110, 112, 137, 138, 140, 148 abused women 74 deranged killer of shoppers 86 Ginza traffic police 164 national fish market 160 posh Akasaka district 245 restaurant owner suing gang boss 247 restaurant prices 224 shopping centers and condominium projects 231–2 subway attack 29–30 tent village 87, 89, 105 yakuza-affiliated gangsters 243 see also TEPCO; TMG; Yasukuni Shrine Tokyo District Court 215 Tokyo High Court 193 Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education 214 Tokyo Metropolitan Government 214, 215 Tokyo Olympics (1964) Tokyo Tribunal see IMTFE Tokyo Women’s Tribunal see WIWCT Tomita, Tomohiko 194 Tomonoura 163 toshi koshi haken mura 87 trade liberalization 14 trade surpluses 14, 15 traffic accident prevention 82 transparency 31–3, 37, 103, 106, 128, 141, 250 improved 119 promoting 27, 33, 117, 121, 259 Treaty of Peace and Friendship (Japan-China 1978) 12 Treaty of Rome (1998) 219 Tsukiji 160 Tsukurukai 195, 199 UK (United Kingdom) 183 armed forces 129 bankruptcy 81 demand that Hirohito be held accountable environmental issues 146, 162 family-related social spending 44 general election (1997) 116–17 immigration 167 life expectancy 48 single-mother households 71 suicide rate 79 welfare-to-work 71 see also Blair; Thatcher ultra-nationalists 190, 191, 202, 217 concern about confronting 197 UN (United Nations) 130 Charter 114 General Assembly 145 Peacekeeping Operations 129–30, 134 Population Division 181 Security Council 119, 126, 141 Trust Fund for Human Security 134 see also UNESCO UNDP (UN Development Program) indices 95 unemployability 173 unemployment 17, 19, 23, 73, 83, 87, 92, 115, 256 long-term 94 nikkeijin workers 170 relatively high 209 relatively limited 27 rising 91 Index suicide and 98 surge in 85 youth 93, 94 unemployment benefits 170, 171, 172 workers who would not qualify for 88 UNESCO (UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) 136 unions 6, declining membership 113 enterprise-based 89 left-wing political culture 109 umbrella group of 87 Unit 731 experiments 187, 188 US (United States) 211 access to markets 197 bankruptcy 81 children in population 44 declassified documents 127, 128 disagreement among Japanese about war against (1941–5) 185 dotcom crash 26 economic problem 86 elderly population 50 environmental issues 145, 146, 162 Filipino nurses and caregivers 178 gambling casinos used to launder yakuza earnings 248–9 GDP 16 Japan’s trade surplus with 14 known gangsters routinely denied visas to 248 Koizumi cultivating closer ties with 121 mafia 227, 229–30, 242, 249 mob access to healthcare options 249 obesity 49 protection from North Korea 130 security cooperation with 118, 124–5, 133, 142 single-mother households 71 suicide rate 79 theater missile defense 131 welfare-to-work 71 see also Bush; CIA; Eisenhower; FBI; Johnson (L); Nixon; Obama; Reagan; Roosevelt; RICO; SixParty Talks; also under following headings prefixed “US” US Congress 106, 113 US Conservation Society 157 US-Japan Agreement (2006) 143 US-Japan Mutual Security Treaty (1960) 4, 10, 109, 110, 113, 114, 127, 132, 236 US Occupation (1945–52) 3, 5–9, 11, 104, 109, 129 Japan pressured to remilitarize 127 ongoing military presence 4, 10, 110, 143 use of force 126 usury 229 uyoku dantai 234 VAWW-NET Japan (Violence Against Women in War-Network Japan) 220 verbal threats 75 victimization 196, 211, 235, 240, 243, 245 many Japanese embrace a keen sense of 186 noble sacrifice and 187 “victor’s justice” 190 Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action (1993) 75 Vietnam 11, 200 Vietnam War (1964) 11, 110 violence 6, 50, 138, 244 credible threat of 230 excessive 59 executives threatened with 234 institutionalized 201 311 312 Index violence (cont’d) issues involving women in war 218 marginal young men prone to 230 penchant for 227 random 86 routinely encouraged acts of 246 ruthless 235 see also domestic violence; VAWWNET; violence specialists violence specialists 228, 232, 242, 245, 251 older/aging 248, 249 people trying to oust 245–6 scary 247 visas ancestral 182 denied 248 eligibility requirements for unskilled workers 183 long-term resident 171 overstayers 167, 180, 181 spouse 173, 174, 180 student 175 three-year 177 tightened controls on 180 violations 168 work 170, 172, 178 vivisection experiments 203 wages low 27, 36, 46, 71, 72, 84, 95, 178 rising 15 see also seniority wage system war crimes 190 exposing 193–4 extensive 218 limited reckoning for major 219 responsibility for 185 support for enshrined war criminals 202 see also Class-A war criminals; WIWCT “war on terror” Japan 188, 189–90 US 118, 180 war responsibility 104, 141, 209, 210, 214, 218, 220 issue complicated by US Japan needs to more forthrightly accept 114 war memory and 185–205 welfare-to-work models 71 see also social welfare Western imperialism 186 whaling 156–62, 164 whistleblowing 151–2, 218 White Paper on Crime (Ministry of Justice 2008) 59 Will, George 189 wind power 146, 147 winners and losers 17, 18, 24, 84, 104, 105, 256 wiretapping 242 WIWCT (Women’s International War Crimes Tribunal) 217–18, 219 women abused 74 adulterous 68 bearing fewer children 44 caring for aging relatives 42 changing attitudes towards marriage 68 declining opportunities and lost gains 95 difficulties in securing daycare 45 excluded from reigning 222 forced to choose between careers or motherhood 45 non-regular/part-time workers 46, 68, 71, 72, 95, 96, 121 patriarchal attitudes towards 3, 68, 73 political party most friendly to 115 Index postponing or refraining from marriage 44 pregnant before marrying 69 refraining from having children 64 sex industry 27 see also AWF; Beijing Women’s Conference; comfort women system; gender; single-mother households; WIWCT women’s rights activists 75 work ethic 72, 105 deeply ingrained 43 workaholic culture 68 working poor 28, 67, 73, 83, 84, 94 growing numbers of 97, 115 rise in 78, 98 widespread discontent among 115 World Cup (Korea-Japan 2002) 169, 216, 217 World Health Organization 48 World Heritage sites 163 xenophobia 175 yakuza 6, 29, 227–51 embarrassing connections to 113 recruited from zainichi 168 Yamaguchi-gumi 230, 237, 243, 244, 246 suing of kingpin of 247 Yasukuni Shrine 118–19, 140, 185–95, 202, 203–4, 211–12 see also Yushukan Museum Yokohama Stadium 217 Yokoo, (Justice) Kazuko 220 Yokota, Megumi 138 Yoshida, Shigeru 11, 127, 142 young workers 93–5 given a one-way ticket into poverty 91 shunned to the margins of labor market 27 yuai 104 Yuasa, Makoto 87 Yushukan Museum 186, 187–90, 203 zaibatsu 8, 13 zainichi 168–70, 180, 230 zairyu 180 Zenkoku Yunion 87 zombies 25, 116 313 ... Jeff, 1957– Contemporary Japan : history, politics and social change since the 1980s / Jeffrey Kingston p cm – (History of the contemporary world) Includes bibliographical references and index... mitigate the dislocation and protect the most vulnerable The coming chapters assess the various risks and responses to them in contemporary Japan It is not just Japan? ??s economy and companies, and. .. the economy Japan, Inc lost credibility as the media drew back the curtains on the seamy ways and means of the system and the leaders who ran it These changing perceptions go to the core of Japan? ??s